The word "swel" may seem peculiar and unfamiliar to many people due to its rare usage. However, it is a legitimate spelling of the word "swell". The IPA phonetic transcription for "swell" is /swɛl/, which indicates that it is pronounced with a short "e" sound followed by an "l" sound. The spelling "swel" is simply an abbreviation of the full word "swell" and uses the same pronunciation. It can be considered a colloquial or informal way of writing the word.